Man found tied to streetlight naked

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- In what appears to be the first of several mid-recession Christmas party aftermaths, a Wellington man was found by passers-by early this morning, bound to an Oriental Parade street light, gagged and naked.

The man, 28-yr old Gerard Ryan, suffered severe head trauma and memory loss. Ambulance workers at the scene did not find his injuries life-threatening, but had him taken to Wellington Hospital as a precaution.

"It's about on-par with what we see this time of year." said St John’s Ambulance volunteer Greg King. "Maybe a little crazier than normal with all the news about the recession and the global credit crisis. They head down to their local to drown their worries and search for answers at the bottom of a bottle, but all this poor guy got was a bump on the head and some [...] horrible luck, if you know what I mean."

Officers on the scene, which last night was venue to the Wellington Young Professionals (WYP) Christmas Party, did not wish to comment, but soon Police did release information and several photos stored on a mobile phone found nearby. The owner of the phone, Andre Lazelle, co-worker and friend of Gerard, has been taken into custody for questioning, but is not being treated as a suspect.

Police spokesman David York made the following statement to media this morning: "It is that time of year, so we don’t want to jump to conclusions. We won’t rule-out foul play or sexual assault, but we aren’t ruling-out the idea that it was just a night gone wrong. Police will treat anybody in these photos that comes forward with information as to what happened last night as a potential witness, and nothing else until we receive more information. We wish first to piece-together the events of the previous night."